Marketing Strategies

The new, innovative handgun found an immediate market in urban areas in the Northeast, in the West (during the gold rush) and in the middle west (over issues of slavery). Its power was limited, but it waslethal at short range, making it a good “hideout weapon.” The later (but similar) Model 2 was favored during the Civil War by soldiers because of their compact build. It was this Model 2 that was also usedin the Old West.[1]

Here, the Smith & Wesson seven shooter is advertised as having the advantages of being “the lightest Revolver in the world”while it still “shoots with as much force as any other arm.” It is also recognized for its “certainty of fire in damp weather,” “convenience and safety” in which the ammunition could be carried and the “facility with which it may be changed (it requiring no ramrod, powder-flask, or percussion-caps.”[2]Once again, it was only when “repeating firearms evolved in the nineteenth century, the modern “fixed” cartridge cameinto use, with powder contained in a brass case with the projectile held by friction at one end and the ignition system mounted at the other.”[3]

This image emphasizes the fact that, not only does it shoot accurately, but it “can be left loaded any length of time without injury, is not liable to get out of order, is safe to carry.” This meant that there was, firstly,a way to carry it to ensure that it did not spontaneously fire. Also, the bullets would not corrode any of the metal or harm the weapon, as previous materials would have done were the firearm to be left loadedfor any period of time.